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New Verizon Wireless calling plan - UNLIMITED

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
40,931
13,129
Portland, OR
I guess I am just too cheap for my own good. $100 a month for a PHONE? Damn, I get mad when I spend more than $20 in a month on my pay-as-you-go crap.
 

syadasti

i heart mac
Apr 15, 2002
12,690
290
VT
-$99 Basic Plan to include limitless calling only
-$119 Select Plan throws in messaging but still demands $1.99 per MB of data
-$139 Premium Plan unlimited everything ($269.99 for two lines.)
 

Secret Squirrel

There is no Justice!
Dec 21, 2004
8,150
1
Up sh*t creek, without a paddle
-$99 Basic Plan to include limitless calling only
-$119 Select Plan throws in messaging but still demands $1.99 per MB of data
-$139 Premium Plan unlimited everything ($269.99 for two lines.)
I'm all about the 30/30 FiOS in my neighborhood....not that I'd even approach the need....but oooooooo....the possibilities!!!

I'm actually thinking about going with the 5/2 but....15/2 sounds glorious...except for the fact that I'm not running a server or trying to d'l Pentagon files ....that and almost no one is running a 15 mbps connection anyway....
 

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
40,931
13,129
Portland, OR
Cricket wireless is unlimited for $40 a month but the coverage area is limited to Portland and I5. If you travel outside a lot, then it gets expensive fast.
 

LordOpie

MOTHER HEN
Oct 17, 2002
21,022
3
Denver
well the point isn't the price so much - it's the change in the way the plans are billed. no more per minute pricing (if you use that much - even I don't! LOL)
It's about time.

a year ago, my wife was spending $150 for Sprint's highest plan. She went over the limit once and they shut off her service. They didn't even have a per minute pricing plan after the 2000 regular minutes. They just shut the phone off.
 

Abstrakt51

Monkey
Oct 11, 2006
981
1
OC
and AT&T counters...

" AT&T to launch unlimited wireless calling plan

Today we announced an exciting addition to our industry-leading lineup of choices for wireless consumers across the country: an unlimited U.S. voice calling plan. Priced at $99.99, this new plan adds to our already impressive list of customer-friendly pricing initiatives including ROLLOVER, which lets customers carry over their unused minutes each month, and AT&T Unity, which offers unlimited calling to 120 million wired and wireless customers — the largest calling circle in the world."
 

MountainDrew

Monkey
Aug 15, 2007
471
0
wow, if I didnt work for a wireless company and only have to pay 10 bucks a month, I really dont think I would have a cell phone.
 

syadasti

i heart mac
Apr 15, 2002
12,690
290
VT
T-mobile has worldwide unlimited outgoing UMA calling for $10/month. You can add it to any UMA phone. They announced it a few weeks ago...
 

GotMyGED

Monkey
Mar 29, 2006
187
0
Knoxville
My Verizon plan is like $40 a month.
And with the free in-network calling, I have never come close to going over my minutes.

I can't imagine how long I would have to hold my phone to the side of my face to make the calling plan worth the extra money.:plthumbsdown:
 

syadasti

i heart mac
Apr 15, 2002
12,690
290
VT
What's that got to do with cell phones?
UMA is for cellphones, duh.

UMA phones use the Internet to connect to virtual cell tower servers and easily roam between real cell towers and the Internet like tower to tower roaming without dropping the call. Calls based anywhere in the world on this plan outgoing are free and have no roaming fees. No cell service is need - just a 70 Kbps (yes bits, not bytes) of bandwidth on a Wifi connection.

I have the Blackberry Curve with UMA:

 

MountainDrew

Monkey
Aug 15, 2007
471
0
The new wireless routers that are coming out are going to make a landline look like HD DVD. You can take the sim card from your GSM phone (sorry verizon) plug it in the router, and it will hook up with a normal house phone.
 

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
40,931
13,129
Portland, OR
I pay $93 for my cranberry with text e-mail net, more minutes then I ever use.
Damn, I could never justify that. I'm pissed that my internet/tv service is $100.

There are way too many other things I would rather do with $100 a month than talk on the phone.
 

LordOpie

MOTHER HEN
Oct 17, 2002
21,022
3
Denver
UMA is for cellphones, duh.

UMA phones use the Internet to connect to virtual cell tower servers and easily roam between real cell towers and the Internet like tower to tower roaming without dropping the call. Calls based anywhere in the world on this plan outgoing are free and have no roaming fees. No cell service is need - just a 70 Kbps (yes bits, not bytes) of bandwidth on a Wifi connection.

I have the Blackberry Curve with UMA:

[/IMG]
I seriously doubt they connect to cell towers. As I understand it, they're wifi based, so if you're not in a city with free city-wide wifi or extensive free, open wifi networks from business... seems pointless since you'd have to find an open wifi signal.
 

MountainDrew

Monkey
Aug 15, 2007
471
0
Opie is correct. The wifi is the network service and that connects directly back to the switch so you can make calls.
 

syadasti

i heart mac
Apr 15, 2002
12,690
290
VT
I seriously doubt they connect to cell towers. As I understand it, they're wifi based, so if you're not in a city with free city-wide wifi or extensive free, open wifi networks from business... seems pointless since you'd have to find an open wifi signal.
I have one - it connects and roams between both even while in a call. It connects to open or any number of flavors of secured wifi - WEP, WPA, WPA2 and the various variants. The server on the internet creates a secure tunnel to your phone. If and when the cellular signal is stronger it switches to the cell tower. You can set preference for roaming in the phone.

Calls started on UMA and switched to cellular bill as UMA so they are unlimited. The seamless switching only works in the US with tmobile towers - the call drops if you have cellular enabled in international locations.

A typical UMA/GAN handset will have four modes of operation:

* GERAN-only: uses only cellular networks
* GERAN-preferred: uses cellular networks if available, otherwise the 802.11 radio
* GAN-preferred: uses a 802.11 connection if an access point is in range, otherwise the cellular network
* GAN-only: uses only the 802.11 connection

In all cases, the handset scans for GSM cells when it first turns on, to determine its location area. This allows the carrier to route the call to the nearest GANC, set the correct rate plan, and comply with existing roaming agreements.

Generic Access Network (GAN), also known as Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA), is a telecommunication system allowing seamless roaming and handover between local area networks and wide area networks using a dual-mode mobile phone. It lets mobile operators deliver voice, data and IP Multimedia Subsystem/Session Initiation Protocol (IMS/SIP) type applications to mobile phones. Its ultimate goal is the convergence of mobile, fixed and Internet telephony (Fixed Mobile Convergence).

The local network may be based on private unlicensed spectrum technologies like Bluetooth or 802.11, while the wide network is alternatively GSM/GPRS or UMTS mobile services. On the cellular network, the mobile handset communicates over the air with a base station, through a base station controller, to servers in the core network of the carrier. Under the GAN system, when the handset detects a LAN, it establishes a secure IP connection through a gateway to a server called a GAN Controller (GANC) on the carrier's network. The GANC translates the signals coming from the handset to make it appear to be coming from another base station. Thus, when a mobile moves from a GSM to an 802.11 network, it appears to the core network as if it is simply on a different base station.

The system was initially called UMA and then renamed to GAN. It was developed by a group of operator and vendor companies. The initial specifications were published on 2nd September 2004. The companies then contributed the specifications to the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) as part of 3GPP work item "Generic Access to A/Gb interfaces". On 8th April 2005, 3GPP approved specifications for Generic Access to A/Gb interfaces for 3GPP Release 6. TS 43.318 and TS 44.318, and renamed the system to GAN. But the term GAN is little known outside the 3GPP community, and the term UMA is more common in marketing.
 

Abstrakt51

Monkey
Oct 11, 2006
981
1
OC
These unlmited plans are directed more towards business owners/field workers who see on average 3000-5000 minutes per month on their phone bill so its very worth it for some. The rest of the industry got smart and knew that Sprint/Nextel (the first company with the unl offerings) was essentially left with nothing else if they matched what little advantage they had over the rest.
 

LordOpie

MOTHER HEN
Oct 17, 2002
21,022
3
Denver
I have one - it connects and roams between both even while in a call. It connects to open or any number of flavors of secured wifi.
It obviously works for you, wherever you live, but you really need to add that disclaimer when you promote something since many monkeys live in an area where there is not an extensive, open wifi network system, either public or private.

Also, I refuse to believe it connects to privately owned cell towers as they would pitch a fit, assuming the tower wasn't protected from open connections. So I'm gonna call shannigans on your cell tower statement.
 

syadasti

i heart mac
Apr 15, 2002
12,690
290
VT
It obviously works for you, wherever you live, but you really need to add that disclaimer when you promote something since many monkeys live in an area where there is not an extensive, open wifi network system, either public or private.

Also, I refuse to believe it connects to privately owned cell towers as they would pitch a fit, assuming the tower wasn't protected from open connections. So I'm gonna call shannigans on your cell tower statement.
It works anywhere Tmobile has cellular coverage in the US. I got my phone for free from a Tmobile rep. That is how it works.

You can turn off cellular if you go overseas and only want to make free calls over wifi.
 

LordOpie

MOTHER HEN
Oct 17, 2002
21,022
3
Denver
It works anywhere Tmobile has cellular coverage in the US. I got my phone for free from a Tmobile rep. That is how it works.
ok, so it connects to only T-mobile licensed/owned cell towers. Makes sense.

Now, suppose you're out of reach of such a tower or a wifi, can you connect to other networks for a fee?
 

MountainDrew

Monkey
Aug 15, 2007
471
0
Since T-Mobile was mentioned we will use them. The UMA (Wifi) phone has the option to use T-Mobile Cell Towers or open wifi network. SO for example if you have a secure wireless router in your home, you can add that to your cell phone with the password and use the wifi as your cell phone coverage.

If you are at a store that has free open wifi, you can connect to that as well. This is were the phone will create a secure tunnel to the switch so you can make your calls.

But note, a T-Mobile Phone can only be used on t-moble towers, personal secured wifi w/ password, and open wifi networks.

Yes, GSM has a roaming agreement, and T-Mobile can be used on AT&T and Altel,but that is for another thread.
 

syadasti

i heart mac
Apr 15, 2002
12,690
290
VT
Now, suppose you're out of reach of such a tower or a wifi, can you connect to other networks for a fee?
Tmobile has roaming agreements with various carriers in the US but those calls will draw from your regular plan minutes.

There are companies who have cancelled all their remote landlines and switched their national reps to UMA phones - their field people have wifi most of the time and cellular coverage elsewhere - saves them a ton.
 

Reactor

Turbo Monkey
Apr 5, 2005
3,976
1
Chandler, AZ, USA
verizon has a different definition of unlimited than the rest of the world does. A few months back they cut about 600 customers off for excessive use of their "unlimited" plans.
 

LordOpie

MOTHER HEN
Oct 17, 2002
21,022
3
Denver
verizon has a different definition of unlimited than the rest of the world does. A few months back they cut about 600 customers off for excessive use of their "unlimited" plans.
I can absolutely believe that. They fvcked me some years back by double charging me for six months. It took six months to fix. Fvck them.
 

syadasti

i heart mac
Apr 15, 2002
12,690
290
VT
verizon has a different definition of unlimited than the rest of the world does. A few months back they cut about 600 customers off for excessive use of their "unlimited" plans.
I don't know if this is correct since it came out before the official PR, but this was posted on engadget yesterday regarding the new plans:

* 5GB cap on data is out
* No contract extension for current customers
* Available on one or two year agreements
* All plans include Mobile Web 2.0 portal access
* No roaming or long distance
 

Echo

crooked smile
Jul 10, 2002
11,819
15
Slacking at work
and AT&T counters...
this new plan adds to our already impressive list of customer-friendly pricing initiatives including ROLLOVER, which lets customers carry over their unused minutes each month,
What the f*ck good are rollover minutes in an unlimited plan? :rofl:
 

syadasti

i heart mac
Apr 15, 2002
12,690
290
VT
Man, you guys talk on the phone more than teenage girls.
My company pays for mine and I am on the minimum calling plan (they pay for whatever plan appropriate according to usage). I don't use all my minutes and I don't have the UMA add-on so UMA calls just deduct from my standard calling plan. I do take advantage of the unlimited data though:busted:
 

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
40,931
13,129
Portland, OR
nowadays, its all about texting to my BFF Rose.
I admit I do text more than talk on the phone, but I also say what needs to be said in 100 characters or less. I also type whole words, but that's because I'm old.

I would rather send a quick text message and be done than hold a conversation.